Uncivil Rites: An Interview with Steven Salaita

In the summer of 2014, renowned American Indian studies professor Steven Salaita had his appointment to a tenured professorship revoked by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, because of public tweets criticizing the Israel’s fifty-one day military assault on Gaza. Professor Salaita’s firing sparked a heated debate about academic freedom, free speech on campus, and the silencing pro-Palestinian voices on US campuses.

Professor Salaita spoke with Khalil Bendib about his new book, Uncivil Rites: Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom in which Professor Salaita combines personal reflection and political critique to shed new light on his termination and the limits of academic freedom in the US.